Giuseppe Calabrese
Ceris-CNR

 April 1997

Abstract

Continuous innovations in product and process technology, coupled with time to market pressure, have made rapid product development a key strategic. Consequently, many firms have started to redefine the ways in which products are designed, developed and produced, to reduce the time from conception to manufacture. The strategies employed to achieve this goal vary, and include the integration of functions through selective use of concurrent engineering, the formation of strategic project teams, and information technology.
A increasingly strategic role in product development has been played by suppliers and the purchasing department. Even though suppliers are in many cases considered to be integrated members of the development teams, they can not be compared to the internal functions. Communications patters in the external process chain are quite different than the internal ones. Product development requires a fundamental change in the attitudes of both buyers and suppliers.

Jel Classification: L32; O32